Finance Score: -3
Governance Score: -3
Support Score: 14
  • Poor Liquidity: -1
  • Fundraising costs high: -2
  • Only 4 Trustees: -1
  • Narrow trustee age band: -2
  • Overall weighted support: +14
Overall GiG Score: 8 ?

FRIENDS OF THE EARTH CHARITABLE TRUST

Friends of the Earth Charitable Trust is committed to the conservation, protection and improvement of the environment. It promotes sustainable development for the public benefit by funding work that includes campaigning, research, education and publishing, and the provision of information on environmental problems and their solutions.
Analysis by Giving is Great

Positives:

  • The charity has received backing from multiple prominent grant makers recently

Regulatory & Governance issues to consider:

  • Why are there only 4 trustees?
  • The Board has little diversity in terms of age
  • Over half the Board have joined recently

Financial issues to consider:

  • Liquidity appears to have been slender at the latest year end
  • Fundraising costs are high relative to funds raised

Financial Data ?

Income & Spending ?
Sources of Income ?
Y/E Income
£k
Spending
£k
Surplus/
Deficit £k
Fundraising
Cost £k
Total
Funds £k
Unrestricted
Funds £k
Mths
Rsrvs
Staff Volun-
teers
30/06/23£12,767£13,492£-725£2,677£2,950£2,6912.42115
30/06/22£13,451£13,432£19£1,660£3,676£3,397319015
30/06/21£15,958£14,494£1,464£956£3,657£3,65731730
30/06/20£10,125£9,758£367£948£2,193£2,1932.71690
30/06/19£11,181£10,586£595£816£1,826£1,8262.117320
30/06/18?£9,916£11,624£-1,708£2,187£1,231£9000.91210
31/05/17£9,127£8,873£254£1,821£2,939£2,7353.71190
31/05/16£9,173£9,988£-816£1,985£2,685£2,5813.11120
31/05/15£9,359£9,037£322£887£3,501£3,5014.61100
31/05/14£10,204£9,187£1,018£2,622£3,179£3,1794.21150
31/05/13£8,929£8,827£102£1,878£2,161£2,1612.91150
31/05/12£8,414£8,809£-395£1,611£2,059£2,0592.81140
31/05/11£9,335£8,120£1,215£1,601£2,454£2,4453.61010
31/05/10£8,122£8,081£41£924£1,240£1,2371.81060
31/05/09£8,952£8,704£248£655£1,198£1,1871.61280
31/05/08£7,094£7,748£-654£779£951£9411.5960
31/05/07£6,521£6,818£-297£546£1,605£1,5922.8990
31/05/06£5,566£4,347£1,219n/an/an/an/an/an/a
31/05/05£3,830£3,740£90n/an/an/an/an/an/a
31/05/04£3,008£3,004£4n/an/an/an/an/an/a

Financial Ratios
Fundraising Costs/Relevant Income: 21%
Fundraising Costs/Total Spending: 19.8%
Senior Staff Costs/Total Spending: 6%
Highest pay band: £70,000-£80,000
Liabilities/Assets: 24%
Liabilities/Income: 7%
Unrestricted Funds/Total Funds: 91%
Reserves/Spending: 2.4 months
Net Current Assets/Spending: 1 months
Quick Ratio: 1.8
Asset Split ?
Balance Sheet History
Established: 44 years

www.friendsoftheearth.uk

info@foe.co.uk

0800581051

Charity Commission for England and WalesCompanies HouseFacebookInstagramX
UN SDGs
?
Listed activities
  • Environment/Conservation/Heritage
  • General Charitable Purposes
  • Other Charitable Purposes
GiG Classification
  • Environment conservation & animal welfare advocacy
How it operates
  • Makes grants to organisations
  • Other charitable activities
  • Provides advocacy/advice/information
Where it operates
  • Northern Ireland, Throughout England And Wales,
Who it helps
  • Other Charities Or Voluntary Bodies
  • The General Public/Mankind

Who supports them? ?

Donations from Grant Makers ?

We have details on the following donations. Multi-year donations are allocated to the years for which they are earmarked.

Major supporters in last 5 years
Postcode Earth Trust£6,100,000
National Lottery Community Fund£500,000
Esmee Fairbairn£220,000
Mark Leonard Trust£119,475
Specific Donations
Amount When
Months
To be used for
John Ellerman Foundation - Staffing costs and associated costs for campaigning, advocacy and community work.
£110,000 30/05/2024
36
Towards core costs including staffing, advocacy and community work specifically around systems change campaigning in Northern Ireland
J J Charitable Trust - Towards its partnership work on UK Divest
£56,061 12/10/2023
Towards its partnership work on UK Divest
Mark Leonard Trust - Towards its partnership work on UK Divest
£56,061 12/10/2023
Towards its partnership work on UK Divest
National Lottery Community Fund - People Planet Place – youth leadership for environmental justice
£500,000 04/07/2023
Friends of the Earth Charitable Trust is using a £500000 grant to support young people from across Northern Ireland to develop the skills confidence and relationships needed to tackle the climate emergency at a local level. Over four years the ....more
J J Charitable Trust - Supplementary grant towards cost of living contribution
£1,044 14/03/2023
towards cost of living contribution
Mark Leonard Trust - Supplementary grant towards cost of living contributions
£1,044 14/03/2023
towards cost of living contributions
Esmee Fairbairn - Grant to Friends Of The Earth Charitable Trust
£20,000 27/02/2023
Towards unrestricted core costs as a Cost of Living Uplift
Postcode Earth Trust - Regular Grant 2023
£3,100,000 07/02/2023
Regular unrestricted award
Co-Operative Group - Grant to Penn Climate Action
£3,760 22/10/2022
Establishing a community orchard will provide our residents with the opportunity to nurture a green space they can take pride in, whilst being able to learn new skills and enjoy the food we'll grow.
Postcode Earth Trust - Regular Grant 2022
£3,000,000 10/02/2022
Regular unrestricted award
Mark Leonard Trust - Towards their core work on the UK fossil fuel divestment movement
£54,913 09/02/2022
Towards their core work on the UK fossil fuel divestment movement and their partnership with Platform and Friends of the Earth Scotland.
J J Charitable Trust - Towards their core work on the UK fossil fuel divestment movement
£54,912 09/02/2022
Towards their core work on the UK fossil fuel divestment movement and their partnership with Platform and Friends of the Earth Scotland.
Esmee Fairbairn - Grant to Friends Of The Earth Charitable Trust
£200,000 01/12/2021
Towards core costs developing My World My Home, including a programme for young disabled people; opportunities for young people to lead the programme; and work to increase the diversity of the movement.
Mark Leonard Trust - To continue its collaboration with Platform London on its divestment work
£7,457 25/02/2021
towards Friends of the Earth to enable it to continue its collaboration with Platform London on its divestment work.
Mark Leonard Trust - Divest Invest programme
£53,582 05/11/2019
Towards its Divest Invest programme
J J Charitable Trust - Divest Invest programme
£53,582 05/11/2019
towards its Divest Invest programme
J J Charitable Trust - Divest Invest Local Campaigns
£48,600 19/05/2017
To support 'Divest Invest Local' campaigns in England and Scotland. Several local authorities in London, the Church of Scotland, Edinburgh International Festival and almost half of Scotland's universities have made commitments to divest from the ....more
Mark Leonard Trust - Divest Invest Local Campaigns
£44,100 09/05/2017
To support 'Divest Invest Local' campaigns in England and Scotland. Several local authorities in London made commitments to divest, and address climate change risks in their pension funds. In Scotland, the Church of Scotland, Edinburgh International ....more
Show more rows

Data sourced from Donors via 360 Giving

How is it governed?

Trustees (4)
Current Trustees appointed
Gender Split

Age Range of Trustees: 48-61
  • BEVERLEY DOWNES Appointed: 2023, Occupation: Communications Director
  • MELANIE OLEY Appointed: 2021, Occupation: Associate Director Of Fundraising
  • NICHOLAS JOHN ELDRED Appointed: 2023, Occupation: Solicitor
  • SIAN FERGUSON (Chair) Appointed: 2023, Occupation: Trust Executive
Legal constitution
  • Charitable company registered in England & Wales on 06/01/1981, number: 281681
  • Registered at Companies House on 10/12/1980, number: 01533942
Gift Aid
  • Registered with HMRC for Gift Aid
Policies in force
  • Bullying and harassment policy and procedures
  • Campaigns and political activity policy and procedures
  • Complaints handling
  • Complaints policy and procedures
  • Conflicting interests
  • Financial reserves policy and procedures
  • Internal charity financial controls policy and procedures
  • Internal risk management policy and procedures
  • Investing charity funds policy and procedures
  • Investment
  • Paying staff
  • Risk management
  • Safeguarding policy and procedures
  • Safeguarding vulnerable beneficiaries
  • Serious incident reporting policy and procedures
  • Social media policy and procedures
  • Trustee conflicts of interest policy and procedures
  • Trustee expenses policy and procedures
  • Volunteer management
Filing Record
20 returns made; all on time
Main office

Friends of The Earth
139 Clapham Road
LONDON
SW9 0HP

Objectives

A. THE ADVANCEMENT OF EDUCATION FOR THE PUBLIC BENEFIT AND, IN PARTICULAR, THE ADVANCEMENT OF EDUCATION IN ECOLOGY, NATURAL HISTORY,RESOURCE CONSERVATION, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES; B. THE CONSERVATION, PROTECTION AND SUSTAINABLE USE FOR THE PUBLIC BENEFIT OF THE EARTH'S NATURAL ENVIRONMENT INCLUDING BIO-DIVERSITY, ATMOSPHERE, WATER, LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES;C. THE PROMOTION OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE PUBLIC BY:(I) THE PRESERVATION, CONSERVATION, AND THE PROTECTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND THE PRUDENT USE OF NATURAL RESOURCES;(II)CONDUCTING OR COMMISSIONING RESEARCH AND PUBLISHING THE RESULTS OF SUCH RESEARCH.'SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT' MEANS IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF LIFE WHILE LIVING WITHIN THE CARRYING CAPACITY OF SUPPORTING ECOSYSTEMS AND THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT. 2.2 NOTHING IN THE ARTICLES SHALL AUTHORISE AN APPLICATION OF THE PROPERTY OF THE CHARITY FOR PURPOSES WHICH ARE NOT CHARITABLE IN ACCORDANCE WITH SECTION 2 OF THE CHARITIES ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 2008

Defined Area of Benefit:

NATIONAL AND OVERSEAS

Data Sources

Charity Commission for England and Wales
360 Giving

Tips for Selecting Charities

Which areas of philanthropy are most effective?
The text of this post is taken from an article on the Effective Altruism forum. It suggests that you can achieve the most impact by supporting causes that fight extreme poverty, improving animal welfare....more
Our Top Tips for Philanthropy
Here are some ideas to help you gain more satisfaction from your philanthropy and confidence that the causes you have selected are impactful. Engage your brain, as well as your heart You....more
How to become a Philanthropist
In this Blog we outline a strategy to help people who are new to philanthropy and for those who feel dissatisfied with the impact they are having. Effective philanthropy is immensely rewarding for donors,....more

Giving is Great